Deadline
by la-perla's mermaid
Summary: On a faitful night, the grim reaper visited Tigress on her sleep. A creepy story to get in the halloween mood. WARNING character death. The cover art was made by Link 6432
1. Marked for death

Deadline

Author's note: I don't own anything, don't sue. Also warning: Character death

When she opened her eyes she was in an open field, her fellow masters around her as they fought a group of outlaws. She didn't remember how she got there and given the urgency of the situation she was in, now wasn't the time to make questions.

Tigress went after the biggest of the group, a huge muscular boar armed with a battle axe. He wasn't the smartest one, but given his strength and the power of his strikes it was obvious she would be the better match against him, being the largest and strongest of the five. The boar was slow and clunky on his movements, but should his heavy weapon ever strike her she'll be split in half, there were several close calls as they fought one another and her own hanfu had been sliced off in a few places. Then she got lucky as her enemy tried to cut her head off, the axe fell above her at great speed but she dodged the attack at the last second causing it to fall on a tree nearby, instead of hitting its target the metal was stuck into the strong wood.

Now deprived of his weapon her foe was no match against her quick agile strikes, sure her ribs might have cracked a little whenever his huge fists managed to make contact on her torso but she had been worse. Taking a few steps back to gain distance and momentum she hit him with a powerful back spin kick right on his muzzle, breaking his nose and incapacitating him.

Meanwhile Po was facing off with their leader, a tall horse dressed in fine golden silk that didn't signify the high status of a warrior but someone with tons of material wealth. The horse was a decent fighter, some of his kicks and blows managed to land on the dragon warrior, but compared to the now high master of Kung Fu the equine really was no match.

-"Hy-yaaa!"- Po squealed smiling after hitting the horse with an open palm strike that pushed his contender at least six feet away, the foe was stunned for a while but quickly regained his wits and charged right back at him. When his enemy closed the distance the panda took a defensive stance so he could block any incoming attack, but he didn't know what the horse had hidden below his sleeve.

Po expected to get hit or punched, instead he just heard an explosion and all of the sudden there was a burning pain in his chest, looking down all he saw was a red dot the size of a walnut situated on the left side of his sternum, then his vision went blurry and he fell down.

After hearing the explosion the fiver turned towards the source of the sound, the horse was standing over Po while holding a very strange weapon on his hoof, it looked like a very small cannon, there was smoke coming out of its muzzle. The dragon warrior laid on the ground unconscious while a large pool of blood was quickly forming below him.

Tigress ordered the other masters to keep fighting while she ran towards her friend, as she ran closer she could see that the horse seemed to be putting a metal pebble inside the mini cannon and aiming the bizarre weapon this time at the panda's head. She tackled the horse and the weapon shot into her side, she felt a fleeting burn but it wasn't a deep wound. Withdrawing her long sharp claws she hit the horse on the face with a slashing blow that left deep bleeding scars on him and permanent damage on his right eye, howling in pain he dropped the weapon. Seeing her opponent crying in agony on the ground she regained enough self control to growl at him instead breaking his skull.

Turning towards Po she tried to asses the damage, the wound on his chest looked like a tiny little scratch, but the amount of blood that accumulated below him proved the damage was serious, too serious in fact. By the time she was able to be by his side he wasn't breathing anymore, she tried to put pressure on the wound and poured her chi over him but it was no use, her life force cannot heal the dead.

It didn't make sense, he had been fighting and goofing around like always just a few minutes ago, how could a weapon cause such catastrophic damage in such little time. Po is the dragon warrior, he learned the wuxi finger hold by himself and cracked the secret code in the ancient scroll, he dodged and manipulated even the most powerful cannon ball, he traveled in and out of the spirit realm like it was no big deal and he died because of a tiny pebble?

No, it doesn't make sense. Po cannot die like this, she won't let him die, it's just not possible. Once again she shone her chi on him trying to sear the wound, but the life force passed right through him like he was an inanimate object and dripped into the soil beneath, still she kept trying.

-"Tigress stop it! You'll drain yourself!"- She heard the voice of Crane like he were many miles away even when he was standing right beside her.

Monkey made the bold move of slapping her on the face, forcing her out of the trance, when he looked at her she could see tears on his eyes -"He's dead, there's nothing you can do about it"- He told her between sobs.

Then it hit her, reality that is, and she screamed.

Her eyes closed, there was nothing but darkness, she opened them up and found herself back in her room

The jarring emotion of seeing Po die washed over her, shaking in fear she curled in on herself and wept, that wasn't a nightmare, nightmares fade shortly after waking up yet the images in her head were still vivid.

-"No Master Tigress, that wasn't a dream."- Said a voice right next to her

As soon as sensed somebody in her chamber she quickly got out of bed and struck a combat pose.

-"Who are you?"- She said scanning her room, the spartan furniture and its tidy disposition left little place for an intruder to hide, yet all she saw were shadows.

-"Show yourself!"- She said a bit more loudly, hoping to put the other masters on alert

-"There's no need to raise your voice young lady, I mean no harm"- A soft deep voice spoke from behind her, turning around what she saw made her scream once more, but the sound was ripped out of her throat as soon as she made it.

The creature in front of her was not an animal like she had ever known, it had a flat pale face with no snout, only a round mouth. His eyes could be somewhat recognizable as something that might belong to a living being, but they were deep black and even when there was a strong glimmer in them, they looked empty. He wore tight fitting dark roves on a body too slim and long to survive according to the basic rules of nature, even a skeleton would have more bulk. Hands protruded from it's sleeves in freakishly long fingers that ended up with sharp nails, yet what creeped her out the most was his lack of fur, bluish white bare skin was exposed revealing the purple veins pulsing beneath.

In an effort to regain her wits she tried to speak again, this time she was successful in producing a sound -"Who are you?"- Her voice was so meek and frail, you could swear that tone would never come out of her mouth

-"I am the grim reaper"- The thing said with a small bow

-"Why are you here?"-

-"To ask for your help"- The reaper said while holding out his hand towards her, as if asking her to take it.

With a trembling paw she did as told and soon felt mesmerized, the panic that had invaded her earlier faded away, she now understood the creature before her meant no harm.

-"What you just saw was a vision of the future, the dragon warrior is supposed to die within three days. But his death will bring so many consequences that the balance between life and death could be shifted beyond repair. The weapon his murderer used will become so powerful entire armies will use it causing many more kills than they should, and when a new powerful foe arrives to brandish it, the only warrior strong enough to defeat him won't be alive to do so"-

-"We have to stop this then, save him from death"- She said determined

-"Yes, but the balance is quite delicate, in order for his life to be spared, yours has to be taken"-

-"What? Why me?"-

The reaper shrugged -"The life of one noble warrior for another. That is the only way to achieve the balance"-

-"Can't you just not take him? You are death after all, YOU are the one that could stop this"- The feline claimed outraged

Shaking its head he responded patiently -"I am to death what an accountant is to money, I don't own it or dictate its rules, I merely manage it. For every life that is given, another one must take its place"-

She grumbled. It's the story of her life really, always at the shadow of the great dragon, first it was Tai Lung and now its Po, she will never be the chosen one that leads the final battle.

But she loved Po, as much as he loved her and the rest of his friends and family.

-"I'll do it"- She said defeated, Po wouldn't hesitate to risk or sacrifice his life for her had he been in the same place. As a noble warrior she had been taught the importance of self sacrifice, especially if it was for the greater good.

The reaper gave her a sand clock, as soon as she touched it the sand begun to slowly drip from one compartment to another. It was evident that once the final particle of sand fell, her time would be over -"You have three days to settle your issues before your vision takes place, use them wisely"- then she looked up and it was gone, only a cold wind was left in her room.

Turning around she looked out her window and saw the rising sun, it's meager warmth would never be enough to heat up her chilled bones.


	2. Day one

Deadline 2

Tigress dragged her feet towards the kitchen, there was no point in trying to get back to sleep and the morning gong would sound pretty soon anyways. She made her usual breakfast of green tea and tofu cubes then sat to eat in silence, she needed some time alone for her mind to digest everything that had just happened. Three days, that's all she had to live. Of course she couldn't tell anyone about it, what good could that do? Po would be devastated if he knew he was somewhat responsible of her demise and might even try to stop her sacrifice altogether. The other masters could understand and even respect her choice, but she didn't think they could hide this kind of a secret from their new master.

There is nothing but silence in the kitchen, according to the daily routine of the dojo it wouldn't stay quiet for long, so she took a deep breath and was grateful for this small moment of peace.

-"Hey you're up early!"- She heard the panda's voice booming behind her, right, so much for peace and quiet now.

-"So are you, the gong hasn't even rang yet"- She muttered in a low grumble, the feline wasn't in the mood to lash at Po today, she might as well just hurry up to finish her breakfast before…

-"Plain tofu cubes? Really? Those are like mouthfuls of nothing, they have no flavor at all"- Po said as he snatched the bowl from her paws and shoved another one filled with bean buns in front of her. -"Take some of those while I fix you something you like"-

-"I liked what I was having before"- She groaned miserably, but today of all days she didn't want to fight with her friend. These were the last moments she would share with him and she didn't want to be remembered like a grumpy shrew. Huh, maybe it was a little too late for that, acting nice for a few days wouldn't compensate all those times she had snapped at him or all the mean things she had told him over the years.

In the end Tigress settled with killing time by poking the overly sweet pastries in front of her, she didn't know why everyone liked them so much.

-"There you go, now you can have your tofu."- The panda placed a steaming bowl of fried tofu next to the bean buns, the new dish smelled like cinnamon, honey and ginger.

She breathed in the scent, it was heavenly. -"Thanks Po, it smells great"- She smiled grateful and he beamed exited at her, a soft pink blush could be seen through the white fur of his cheeks.

She could only have one piece before the other masters came rushing into the kitchen

-"Bean buns!"- Crane said happily at the sight on the table, since the bowl was next to Tigress he scooted closer to her and grabbed a few while Po served the tea. Meanwhile Monkey was drawn to her bowl and sat at the other side so he could snatch some tofu from her plate

-"That smells great"- The simian said staring and her bowl while drooling, she knew he would wait until she got distracted to seize part of her food. Usually she would bare her teeth at him and tell him to back off, but thinking about it, she wasn't even hungry anymore -"Help yourself"- she grumbled defeated and pushed her plate in his direction, the simian didn't waste any time to dig in.

She took a look at her surroundings and saw her friends smiling happily to start a new day while Po made breakfast, the friendly panda was trying to make sure everyone had something delicious on their plates that catered to their individual taste, it was such a simple but clear sign of affection. In that very moment she realized she made the right choice, he wasn't just the best warrior, he was the heart of the dojo. Tigress might have been their leader and the enforcer of discipline, but he was the one that brought happiness and love, because of that she knew she'll never be as cherished as him. To her friends and family losing her might be hard, but but it wouldn't be anywhere near as devastating as losing him.

It was a strange mix of feelings that invaded her, on one part there was jealousy for always being forced in second place and becoming expendable on his behalf, but she also felt tenderness and love when understanding why things were the way they were.

Lifting herself from the table she headed outside

-"Tigress where are you going?"- Po asked worried seeing how Monkey ended up stealing her plate, she had barely eaten anything.

-"To the village, there are some errands I have to do"- She grumbled on her way out

-"Can I go with you? I need to buy a new ribbon for the upcoming festival"- Viper said eyeing her friend cautiously, instead of her usual straight and dignified posture she seemed to be slouching

-"Hey let's all go!"- Mantis said looking for an excuse to skip training

-"It's best if you stay and train, I'll be back soon"- Tigress told them sadly and hurried outside so they wouldn't follow her.

She went to Taotie's house. The weapon she saw in her vision was extremely powerful and a mechanic like him could find a way to replicate it, perhaps even come up with a defense against it. Tigress wouldn't be alive to see it but according to the reaper that weird mini cannon would be a game changer in future battles, so she figured her friends might need a head start when they faced it.

The warthog looked at her like she had gone insane -"So you trust me to build this really powerful weapon and give it to Po... instead of just using it against him?"- He did have a point, for years he had tried to defeat her friends with his mechanical contraptions and now she had given him not just an idea on how to create a devastating weapon but also the money and means to do so.

-"Yes, I am sure you'll keep your word"-

-"Why?"- Taotie said skeptical, master Tigress wouldn't be dumb enough to do this, she was actually quite cunning.

-"Because within three days I'll be dead and if you use that weapon against my friends my spirit will come back to haunt you for the rest of your life."- There was a reddish glint in her golden eyes, the apex predator loomed over him and the sole sight of her threatening expression was enough to make him tremble with fear.

-"I see… Of course master Tigress, I give you my word I'll send this weapon to the Jade Palace as soon as it's done"- The mechanic knew he was better off by following her command. If tigress had gone crazy it was best not to piss her off, but if she was sane then he didn't want her to fulfill her promise and boy, she would make his life miserable as a vengeful ghost.

Something told him she might be telling the truth, there was something really off about her today, like there was a dark cold presence around her. Then he saw behind her and gasped. Not too far away hidden between the shadow of the bamboo forest there seemed to be a dark elongate figure with a white flat face, long bony fingers and dark creepy eyes that seemed to be looking in their direction, it was the most disturbing image he had ever seen.

-"What is that?!"- He said pointing at the forest with a shaky hoof

Looking back she saw the reaper and answered with a nonchalant shrug -"That's the grim reaper, he's been following me I guess"- Then she changed the subject as if having the manager of death looming around her was nothing out of the ordinary -"When do you think the weapon will be done?"-

Forcing himself to focus and not stare at the horrible creature he stammered -"I- I d-don't know, the weapon you des- describe looks really c-complicated"-

-"Could it be done in less than three days?"-

-"No, if I work a-all d-day and n-night it would take at least a w-week"- The warthog said still fighting to keep composure, he looked around searching for Bian Zao, the last thing he wanted was for his son to stumble into that awful thing in the forest.

Tigress sighed sadly, she wouldn't be alive to see the weapon completed. -"Work as fast as you can and deliver it to the palace as soon as possible"- She spat her orders and headed back home, as she walked away she heard Taotie say with pity

-"For all it's worth, I'm sorry that you have to die"-

Turning around to face him she gave him a respectful bow as a way to say goodbye.

…...

-"May I ask why did you skip training this morning?"- Master Shifu's reproaching tone was the first thing she heard as soon as she climbed the thousand steps.

-"My apologies master, there were some business I had to deal with in the village"- She said bowing respectfully while placing her closed fist on her open palm.

The red panda had a bad feeling about all this, something was off with his student he could tell by the lethargic way she moved. But she was a capable adult by now, he trusted that she could handle whatever might be troubling her, otherwise she would ask for his help. -"Very well, I expect you to compensate for the time you missed, you'll be training until late this afternoon"- He said dismissing her and then went inside to carry on with his usual chores.

She trained well into the night, long after the other masters had retired. Once she was alone in the training hall she realized that she had spent most of her life in this room, usually with Master Shifu giving her commands and advice as she pushed herself beyond her limits with the vane hope of becoming the Dragon Warrior and please her master.

Now with death hovering close to her she figured that she should ask him about that, ask if all her victories in the battlefield were enough to make him proud of her or if his expectations were much further than what she could possibly achieve. If he said yes then she could die in peace, knowing she attained what she had worked so hard for all her life, but if he said no she wouldn't have enough time to change his mind, not even by a self sacrifice.

Slumping on the ground next to the weapons rack she ran her paws over her eyes to wipe stray tears that tried to run towards her furry cheeks. Shifu's possible answer scared her, but she couldn't bare the thought of never knowing if the life she spent training in this room had been nothing but a waste of time and effort, so she made the decision to talk to him tomorrow.

It was past midnight when she dragged her sore feet towards her room, once inside she noticed a half burned candle on her nightstand and a bowl filled with sweet fried tofu, below the candle was a paper note written in Po's messy handwriting, it said : _Since you skipped dinner and you gave Monkey your plate this morning I thought you might be hungry, this one has more honey and black pepper, I hope you like it._

She smiled at Po's kindness and ate the delicious meal in silence, as she tried to sleep for the night she realized once more she had made the right choice by dying if it meant sparing his life.


	3. Day two

Tigress barely slept that night, with her death now one day closer falling asleep felt like a waste of time. Time that would be better spent by arranging her affairs, in the quiet darkness of her room she made a will distributing her possessions amongst her five friends, most of them were weapons so she merely distributed them to whoever was more fit to use them. Then there was the issue with her money, all her earnings had been saved throughout the years with her being always an austere animal, a good chunk had already been spent in building the weapon and the rest would go to charity, still she made sure to leave some to cover the expenses of her funeral.

Among her belongings there was the samurai sword given to her by Yihiro, it used to be one of her most prized possessions but now it seemed to mock her with its shiny glow. He said they would meet again, she said she might travel to Japan one day, but the letters they wrote each other dried out eventually and finally it dawned on her that she will die a full grown warrior that never had a first kiss or even a real date. She pushed the miserable thoughts away, there was no point in lamenting over what could never be changed, it's not like she'll find the love of her life within the next forty eight hours.

By the time she was done sorting her items a new sunrise was visible through her window, behind her the sand in the sand clock dripped yet again in its inexorable march. Not wanting to eat breakfast (or having it stolen again) she chose to leave the palace early and settle some unfinished business in the Bao gu orphanage.

Tigress knew the old goat in charge of the place would be up at this hour, this was the time were she would usually start making breakfast and watching over the younger orphans. While Po and the masters often came here to play with the children and even do a basic training in Kung Fu, Tigress had done all she could to avoid this place. As demanding and harsh as Shifu's training had been, the worst day in the Jade Palace was a joyride compared to her time in the orphanage, to her there are too many miserable childhood memories haunting these walls.

The old lady goat was pleasantly surprised when she saw her former orphan at her doorstep. -"Oh master Tigress, It is such a surprise to see you, Come in!"-

Instinctively the feline did as told and sat in the same spot she had always used when she was little, a secluded table in the courtyard where she could play with her dominoes away from the other children, she couldn't believe how familiar it all still felt

-"So what can I do for you?"- The goat asked as she prepared some tea for her unexpected guest

-"I came here to make a donation"- She said tackling the subject straight on and gently placing a pouch filled with gold coins on the table.

-"This is so generous!"- Seeing how much gold there was inside the pouch her eyes widened -"I don't know what to say"-

-"You do a good work with the orphans here, even when you have made mistakes you always had a noble intention at heart. But there is something I need to take care of before I leave"- Tigress said sadly and went to the room where she had spent most of her childhood.

It was just like she remembered, a dark cold dungeon with a small window enclosed in metal bars, even in the dim light of dawn she could still see the scratch marks she had left on the stone walls as a child.

The feline felt a surge of rage when she noticed that some marks were fresh.

-"Have you locked more children in here? Even after I left?"- She roared at the older female.

-"Sometimes, but only when it's absolutely necessary. When a big strong child has a temper and threatens the others this is the only way we can protect the smaller children from getting hurt."- The old lady cowered at sight of the towering predator before her, if Tigress had been a menacing creature when she was an infant, now as an adult skilled in combat she was terrifying.

-"You kept me here for years! And you're still doing that to other children?"- White large fangs shone in the dim light of the corridor as the mighty feline growled

-"Nobody has spent more than one night in here. This is just a room where they can vent safely. You had to be placed here because you were so big and angry all the time, the others were so afraid of you they didn't even dare to play outside. This is all we could think of so they could at least sleep in peace at night."- The old goat was now trembling in fear, but in spite of it all she tried to take Tigress' hand. -"I know it was hard for you but I had to protect the other ones, I still do."-

Tigress removed her paw from the other female's grasp and with her strong claws tore the door from its hinges, not happy with that with powerful kicks she broke the walls surrounding the door, so there was no support should they try to put another one. It was so cathartic to break the prison that had tortured her all those years, smiling as she stood over the rubble she commanded -"From now on this will be a playground, a library or a toy storage. I don't care how scared you are, I don't care how hard it is to handle a big angry child, you will never lock anyone in here ever again. Is that clear!?"- The last sentence was yelled so loud that a few children had been waken from their sleep and had come to the corridor.

Seeing the powerful master yelling at the defenseless caretaker some children got scared, but others ran to the goat's side. -"Please don't hurt her, if something happens to her we won't have anywhere to go!"- A brave little bunny buck pleaded

And once again the angry Tigress was feared by the tiny orphans, once again she saw herself through their eyes and saw nothing but a monster -"Do you really think I would do that?" - she sighed, it was useless, she could save China and the citizens of the valley over and over but nothing would change the fact that she was born a big, scary and temperamental animal and therefore would never fit in. Before she left she gently placed another coin bag on the lady's hoof -"This should cover for the repairs and the renovation of the space"- As she walked away she heard her previous caretaker, the closest thing she had to a mother figure, crying behind her.

-"I tried to help you! The gods know I tried! But you were always so angry"-

That was true, even when it hurt she had to admit that. Part of getting inner peace within herself meant she had to see both sides of the story and come to terms with it -"I know you did. I remember that as soon as I learned to behave you were very nice with me and tried to make me feel better when nobody wanted to adopt me, I know you did the best you could. I just wanted to remind you that in spite of everything that happened I still care about you"- Her voice sounded so hollow and hopeless, she was so tired, but these things had to be said.

-"So do I"- It was said as a soft whisper, but Tigress heard it and it was enough.

…

She was so emotionally drained by the experience that she almost considered not facing Shifu at all, maybe she should just go to training and pretend nothing is wrong, if only so she could just forget for a few hours of the grim reaper haunting her.

-"Where have you been? This is the second day you run off without even telling us, the other masters are worried about your behaviour"- Came the demanding question from her master, once more he was waiting for her at the palace entrance, he looked clearly irritated at his student.

She groaned, well if there was a time to talk to Shifu this might be the right one, so with a sigh of resignation and a respectful bow she asked him if they could talk in private.

Master Shifu agreed then ordered Zheng to not interrupt and above all don't let the other sneaky masters come close to the door, he knew the other masters were curious creatures and had been as worried as he was about her odd behaviour.

As soon as they were in his study he turned towards his student and didn't say a word, he just eyed her intently. "Spill it" his eyes seemed to command her.

-"Master I had a vision of an incoming attack, I don't know when it will happen or where, but I do know the enemy will have a powerful weapon that could destroy an entire army. Only the dragon warrior will be able to stop him. Now I have sent for a replica of the weapon to be built so we could understand it better, but it won't be ready for another week"-

-"I see…"- He mused, yet her statement didn't explain much -" Now may I ask why would you keep this a secret? Why aren't you alerting Po about this right now? Why are you sneaking out of the palace at odd hours?"-

-"It might be best if you don't know"- She said as her posture dropped, wich of course worried the older master even more, to him she looked like she was fading away right before his eyes

-"If the threat is as serious as you say then the worst we could do is keep secrets, something is wrong with you and if you don't tell me then I will have to find out myself"- He told her with pure determination on his eyes, she knew he would keep his word if she didn't confess. Maybe she should, if anyone can understand what she was going through it was him.

-"Master you taught me once of the value of self sacrifice, you were willing to be destroyed by the evil dragon just so he couldn't get to Po, and even when it hurt I respected your choice. Now it is I who has to die in order for him to live and I ask you to respect my decision as well. Within two days the grim reaper will take me away instead of him, that way Po will be able to defeat this upcoming enemy"-

-"What are you talking about?"- He said shocked

She explained him about the grim reaper and the need to keep balance between life and death, and how this could be the only way to save China from its impending doom.

He refused to believe her -"This is nonsense! Death doesn't just haunt people talking about scores or balances. It's probably a dark spirit trying to manipulate you and you fell for it like a novice!"- He said pacing back and forward in the room angrily, she didn't expect him to freak out like this, he had always been so calm and collected even in the direst situations.

-"He's right behind you"- She said nonplused, whenever someone tried to deny her the reaper always showed up. It was clearly following her not just to take her life away but also to make sure she succeeded in her mission, since he seemed to pop up whenever she needed him to. At first she had also found it terrifying but with every encounter she could see death wasn't something to be afraid of, if you see beyond the unsettling appearance one could even notice a glimmer of emotion on its dark eyes.

Turning around he saw the daunting creature, long, tall, skinny and disgusting. One look at its dark eyes and he understood she had been telling the truth, death was indeed plaguing her.

He had to lean on his wooden cane for support, the realization was too harsh on his old heart -"Why do you want to take her?"- He asked outraged.

-"The life of a noble warrior for another, only then can I achieve balance"- Was all the creature bothered to say in its deep soft voice.

-"Master it's okay, I've made my piece with it."- She said placatory -"That's why I've been sneaking around so much, I'm trying to settle my issues so I can die in peace. And now I must talk with you about one of them, there is a very important question I need to ask before I die"- This was the moment of truth, where she could finally know if he was proud of her, if all her sacrifice and effort meant anything to him.

-"Leave"- He told her growling, his wooden cane pointed at the door

She couldn't understand why was he kicking her out, why he refused to talk to her even when he knew her time was precious and running out -"Master this is important I have to know if…"-

-"Leave!"- He said yelling, he wouldn't talk to her anymore.

She was heartbroken, maybe this was her answer. Squinting hard not to show her tears she turned around and closed the door behind her.

After that the reaper was fading into an invisible smoke, no doubt so it could keep haunting her.

-"Not you, you will stay. We have business to discuss"- Shifu commanded the reaper, sure he might be a small animal the size of a racoon and before him was an ancient omnipotent force of nature, but this was _his_ dojo and everyone had to respect him, even death.

Once outside Tigress saw the rest of the five with Po in the lead, they had been waiting for her to finish talking with Shifu, hoping she'll tell them what was going on. Taking a deep breath she wiped her tears and buried the misery deep inside, she hadn't showed weakness through all her life and maybe now was not the time to change that. At least she would die with dignity, she was after all the most hardcore master, and maybe that's all she needed to be.

-"What are you looking at?"- She said trying to mimic her usual harsh bravado -"We have a lot of training to do"- And with that she led them to the training hall without saying another word.


	4. Day three

Third day

It was well past midnight in the valley of Peace, Master Tigress fidgeted in her room because once more she was unable to sleep. Her body and soul were worn out from the previous days and the exerting training she did that afternoon didn't help, but the incessant passage of time filled her with anxiety, she only had one more day left.

Instead of bringing comfort and rest her room felt too lonely and oppressive, like a premature tomb. So she forced herself to go take a walk outside in spite of the protest of her weary bones.

Summer was gone and a crisp autumn breeze swept the air, yet she could see at the distance that the peach tree of eternal wisdom was still in full bloom, it's tiny petals flew in circles around her and floated back towards the steep hill where they came from, it almost looked like it was beckoning her. Thinking some contemplation below its foliage might help ease her mind she climbed the many stairs leading up to it and was mildly surprised to find Shifu meditating there. She turned around to leave not wanting to disturb him, there was no point in staying by his side since whatever they could talk about to each other was already said, he made his position clear just a few hours ago and she refused to waste her precious time with someone who didn't appreciate her.

-"I guess you can't sleep either"- He said without even bothering to open his eyes, he could always hear her coming, nobody could sneak up on him

-"I'll leave you alone"- She said coldly while turning away.

-"Please don't go"- There was a humble plea in his voice, she never thought she'll hear him talk like that

With a slight groan of annoyance she sat next to him and waited patiently for him to say what was on his mind. Whatever he wanted to say she no longer wanted to hear, but he was her master and she owed him proper respect.

-"I'm sorry for how I treated you this afternoon. It's just that I was angry"- Wow that was a weird thing to hear from him, the last time he tried to apologize to her he literally choked on his words -"I know I taught you about the importance of self sacrifice but when I did it was with my own life not yours, to me it felt like you were giving up too easily on life and I could never allow that"-

-"I don't want to die"- She said frustrated and her voice broke a little at the strong emotions -"But I don't want Po to die either, especially if he's so important to the future of China"- She cried, a lone tear dripped from her left eye, for the last twenty years she would have preferred death than to show such weakness in front of her master, but now that death was a day away she realized her pride didn't matter anymore.

His tiny paw was smaller than one of her fingers, yet when he held her hand she felt so much comfort. It was a lie when she told Po she couldn't feel anything on her hands, she did, it's just that the deep callouses that formed on her palm from hitting all those ironwood trees made her less sensitive to fine touch. She could still feel the warmth when someone held it, like her hands she was strong and resilient to pain but in spite of appearances she was capable of feeling, even if it often didn't look that way.

-"You're just doing the noble thing, like any true warrior would do. I am very proud of you, I have always been"- He told her with a melancholic smile and eyes glistening from unshed tears.

-"You are? Really? "- She said surprised, even when she had finally gotten her answer she still had trouble believing it.

-"Of course! What made you think otherwise?"- He said it so simply, like it had always been obvious and she were a fool for not realizing it

-"You never"- She groaned exasperated at the lack of words while gesticulating in the air, she had never been so open about her feelings and now had trouble expressing them properly -"You never said it, you always acted like there was this high unachievable standard that I had to follow but never came even close! And when I failed to become the dragon warrior I just thought I'll never reach it, that no matter how hard i tried I'll never be good enough for you"-

He sighed and shook his head -"I know I was harsh on you but never thought it was that bad"- He said a little embarrassed, then he sighed to take a minute so he could put his thoughts in order and explain -"After Thai Lung I knew I couldn't hone the ego of my students, I couldn't let their pride blind their reason or even worse, their moral compass. But it is true that I held all of you to an impossible standard because you're not supposed to ever reach it, you're supposed to never get complacent about your achievements no matter how great they are. That is because before you know it a new more powerful enemy will come and your limits will be pushed over and over again, and if you get too smug about your victories past you won't be prepared for the challenges of the future."-

-"I understand it now"- She said smiling for the first time in days, a wave of relief washed over her -"There is another great enemy coming and he'll push all of you into new dangers and hardship, but not me, I get the easy part this time. I realize now that the worse part doesn't go to the one that dies but to the ones that stay alive"- She saw once more the sunset rise over the horizon, it marked the beginning of her third and final day. There was a distant look on her eyes as she saw it, this was the last time she would see a sunrise -"By tomorrow all my problems will be over, and yours will begin"- She turned to her master, he seemed to have a knowing sparkle of trickery in them, solemnly she asked him a huge favor -"I trust you will guide them, Po might be powerful but he will need your help"-

-"All you just said is very wise Tigress, I hope you remember that in the future"- He said with a half smile not bothering to answer her request.

-"What do you mean?"- She said cocking her head -"What kind of future could I have?"-

-"You'd be surprised"- He said aloof and quickly changed the subject -"You know I just remembered how many times Po said you were the one to push him forward, even when kicking him back. He always says he wouldn't know what to do without you"-

-"He'll find out soon enough"- She said dryly, then sighed -"He gives me too much credit sometimes, there are many victories he achieved on his own."-

-"Yet for the most difficult ones, you were always there"-

She rolled her eyes, was he trying to make her feel guilty about leaving? It serves her right for gloating about the dead not having to fight epic villains, she guessed -"You sound like Oogway now, and there's no point in thinking about it, there's nothing we can do"-

-"There is always something you can do, It's up to you to make the decision to do it"-

Again with the vague wise sounding speech -"Yeah, you definitely sound like Oogway"- She grumbled, but just like it happened with the old master, behind the unclear words there was a solid advice. Po had faced his worst enemies knowing she would be by his side and cover his back, after her death he would have to learn to be on his own.

So that morning she stayed and trained with her fellow masters, the first thing she needed to know is how they all would handle themselves in battle without her.

-"Pretend I'm your enemy"- She told them with a challenging smile, standing tall and imposing over them -"You will all fight me at once, the one who defeats me first will have the rest of the day off."-

Po and the other four masters looked at Shifu, who bowed his head as if indicating he agreed.

-"Oh it is ON!"- Said Po smiling, five against one was a really good odds, even when facing off against someone as awesome as Tigress. He was after all the dragon warrior and he had managed to defeat her a few times now. In his head he was already planning his day off already, he'll go visit his dad!

They all charged at her at once, but instead of fighting back like she would normally do she deflected every strike they sent her way. This served the double purpose of getting them off balance and also save energy on her part, since the last few days had tired her greatly. When they begun to trample on each other because they were fighting in such a tight formation she gave a very high jump and instead of landing on the ground she used her sharp nails to climb one of the wood beams on the ceiling, once there she jumped to a dark corner and got lost in the shadows. After that she hid behind the many structures of the training hall, only when they had their backs against her she would sneak from behind and attack them, by the time they turned around she would disappear into the dark corners again.

Tigress wasn't worried about them facing an enemy with brute strength or combat skills, Po was actually even stronger and a better fighter than her. Now should they face an enemy more versed in cunning than in open combat they might falter, especially him since he was, to put it kindly "simple minded". The whole idea of this exercise was to replicate that scenario.

Before they knew it the masters were cornered by the savvy feline and the only strategy for defence they came up with was forming a tight circle with their backs on the center and their fronts facing outwards while looking at their surroundings filled with paranoia.

-"That's a good formation for defense, but you'll have to break it in order to do an effective attack"- Tigress said from the shadows, her voice projecting itself like it came from all corners at once

-"Yeah but you'll have to come close if you wanna defeat us and we'll get you then"- Monkey said taunting her, gaining some bravado.

That's when arrows flew right next to them, they passed by without hitting or even gracing any of them but it took the point across.

And that's when she saw it , instead of getting confused or lost Po focused and coordinated his attack beautifully -"Crane you fly above us and block all the arrows you can, see if you can pinpoint her location while you're up there. Mantis you sneak into the shadows, Tigress can hide really well but you're tiny so you'll be better at stealth mode than her. Viper you cover the exit so she doesn't get away and Monkey you stay with me, as soon as they lure her out we attack her together"-

Crane did as told, flying gracefully above the rest he spotted her close to the north entrance, with a discreet flap of his wings he directed his friends towards their target. Mantis sneaked up on the shadows and following crane's directions he found her hiding behind the weapons rack, with a short yet powerful strike he hit her ankle right at a pressure point causing her to yelp and fall, now with her location uncovered and with Viper guarding the exit she had no choice but to fight Po, who had been smart enough to have Monkey by his side decreasing her odds by half. They fought for a long time, with her trying to overcome her exhaustion and find a weak point to exploit while Po and Monkey just seemed to be goofing around jumping from one place to the other. A less knowledgeable warrior would scoff at their shenanigans but experience had taught her those two were the most dangerous when they acted like idiots.

Then it came out of nowhere, while Monkey was occupying her with fast continuous blows Po had created a concentrated orb out of pure chi that he launched straight at her chest. The force of that move was so formidable she was thrown at the other side of the room and crashed into the opposite wall.

Her world had turned into nothing but blinding white light for a moment, as she opened her eyes she found herself lying on the ground while her family had gathered around her.

-"Are you okay?"- Mantis asked her in his usual loud voice

-"I am"- She said getting up and watching Po with amazement, not because he had defeated in such a spectacular way but because his chi orb had healed every single part of her body when it hit her. From the wear and tear her joints had suffered throughout years of demanding training to the little aches and pains that had plagued her these last few days caused by lack of food and sleep.

Maybe he didn't know it yet, the full reach of his powers. She could swear he had even managed to rejuvenate her somehow, that means he had found a way to extend his or someone else's lifespan. Oogway managed to live over a thousand years because of his mastery of chi, Po might become even better than him.

Well, that didn't concern her anymore, the consequences of the dragon warrior having so much power at such a young age was a problem left for the living to solve in the future. For her part she had done all she could, at least she could rest in peace knowing that Po could handle himself without her just fine and was more than able to lead the five.

Bowing respectfully to him she said what it should had never been kept a secret -"You did great Po, I'm very proud of you"- Then she looked at the other masters -"I'm proud of all of you"- They all saw her with a satisfied smile on their happy faces, this was the image she would take of them to the afterlife. At the risk of losing her calm and get overly emotional she chose to break the solemnity by grumbling with a subtle smile -"Now go enjoy your day off"-

-"Technically speaking it was Po the one who won the challenge so he's the only one that can go"- Shifu interjected with a stone cold expression -"The rest of you will keep training"- He told the other four masters.

-"Awesome!"- Po said doing a little victory dance then stopped at the angry look of his friends -"Sorry guys"- He said embarrassed.

-"You should go too Tigress"- The older master told her, there was a deep sympathy in his eyes -"Get some fresh air, it will be good for you"-

She didn't get a chance to respond as Po took her by the arm and basically dragged her outside while talking about noodles.


	5. Say goodbye

Deadline 5

The final third day came and went, that same night they got the call. They were informed of a group of bandits attacking the village nearby, the leader was a horse just like her vision had foretold.

It finally happened, the time of her death had come and in the end she was okay with it, her soul was at peace. The other masters thought this was a regular mission but Shifu knew better and sent his students away with a deep tender sadness in his eyes, Tigress smiled at him and with a final grateful bow at her master she went with her friends to fight the battle.

-"Oh it is ON"- Po said happy to launch himself into battle and do Kung Fu, the other masters rolled their eyes at his enthusiasm, Tigress just kept quiet during the whole journey. In spite of her efforts there was still one final unfinished business that she could not settle, it was something she hadn't seen coming until yesterday and now it was too late for her to fix it. To be honest even if she had all the time in the world she still wouldn't know what to do about it.

Yesterday Po had dragged her to the noodle shop and made her a bowl of his special soup, apparently the reason Po was so eager to see Mr Ping was that Li Shan was visiting the valley of peace and decided to kill time by working in the noodle shop as well. The dragon warrior was really eager to hang out with both of his fathers.

Once inside the shop Po was always solicitous around her but that day he was worse than usual, he didn't waste time preparing his special spicy sauce for her along with her favorite jasmine tea.

-"Po what is this all about?"- She asked a bit perplexed about his excessive fussiness

-"Well I noticed you were skipping meals and thought that maybe you didn't like the way I cooked, so I figured me and my dads could come up with new recipes"- He said sheepish while twiddling his thumbs

Placing her paw on his shoulder she gave him a warm smile -"Your cooking is fine, it's just that I've been preoccupied with something that's all"-

-"What is it then? Something is really bothering you, we are all worried"- He told her inquisitive, he looked different when he was serious, there was even a glimmer of intelligence in his green eyes. It was part of a strange duality that he had, he could be a dumb clumsy goof of a panda most of the times but there were moments when he could be wise and insightful.

She couldn't tell him the truth but she couldn't lie to his face either, since there was a good chance he might see through her, so she settled for something in between. -"It's something that will solve itself very soon, don't worry about it"-

Li Shan exchanged glances with his co parent and Mr Ping took the cue, then dragged Po inside the kitchen to make a nice dessert for his friend. As she drank her tea Li Shan respectfully asked if he could sit with her, by the solemn look in his eyes she could tell he had serious issues to discuss. With a respectful nod she invited him to the table, he sat in front of her and cleared his throat.

-"Master tigress, maybe you don't know much about pandas courting rituals. Po in fact doesn't know much either, being raised so far away from his people. We are picky when it comes to finding a mate, and while there are exceptions it takes a long time for two animals to interact and create a romantic bond, yet once that happens that bond is impossible to break. I think my son doesn't see it just yet, but I can see by his body language that he might have chosen his mate"-

-"Okay"- She said confused and a little awkward, not knowing why was Li Shan talking about this particular subject with her of all people -"I haven't seen him around any female here, has he fallen for any of the panda girls from the village?"-

-"No I think he was already in love by the time he met the other females of his kind."- He sighed, it was just as he suspected, both were from different species and probably unexperienced in romance. He could drop hints all afternoon and she still wouldn't get it so he might as well be direct -"I think he's in love with you"-

She laughed, how absurd was that idea. They were good friends but neither of them had done anything even remotely close to flirting in all the years they had lived on the same roof, she saw him as an overgrown child and he saw her as a buddy. Li Shan saw no humor on the subject and stared at her with serious eyes, so keeping her composure as to not disrespect Po's father she told him patiently.

-"Sir Po isn't the typical panda and doesn't fit what you describe, he has fallen in love at least twice that I've known and even when none of them were the right one he got over the infatuation and moved on pretty fast."- With a tender smile on her face she shook her head -"He is unbreakable in that regard, no matter what you throw at him or how much damage you cause him he will come bouncing back. Perhaps you are confusing his admiration for romance but even if he did have a minor crush on me it wouldn't be a big deal seeing how easily that happens, I'm sure he'll get over it eventually"-

-"I don't know what happened back then, but I can assure you that if he had really loved the other girls he would be married already. A bond like I describe can only be accomplished by two animals in love, it's not something that happens with unrequited affection"- Then he placed his soft fluffy paw over hers -"A minor attraction shouldn't be confused with love, love is caring for the other all the time, to die or kill for them. I've seen him around you, it's not an infatuation or a crush. I've seen how he can tolerate every evil in the world except to see fear in your eyes, like the time Kai almost defeated us and we all thought we were doomed, I saw how he broke when he saw you holding Lei-Lei in fear and sacrificed himself to save all of us. I see how his eyes light up when he talks about you, he is in love, but since his feelings are so different from the short infatuations he had in the past he can't recognize it for what it is"-

-"Even if you were right I'm sure It would never happen"-

-"Why not?"-

\- "I care for him as a friend but I don't see him as anything else"- She said coldly while crossing her arms

He scoffed - "That's what his mom said about me!"- He laughed for a second until his eyes regained the subtle tinge of sadness that always invaded them.-" He spends a lot of time by your side, he cares about you and you care about him, one of these days you will see him for what he is and will realize you love him too. And when that happens I just want you to know that I'll be happy that you call me dad, you will be welcomed into the panda village, as far as I can tell you are part of our family already"- He outstretched his arms and gave her a bone crushing hug, she was accustomed to such blatant displays of affection so she tensed up at first but then returned the gesture.

Tigress smiled at the compliment, she could tell where Po had gotten his sweet disposition -"That is a beautiful sentiment, I am honored. But it will never happen"-

-"Why are you so sure?"-

Tigress guessed that she could trust Li Shan to keep a secret, looking around and making sure nobody would hear her she whispered into his ears -"Because I will die soon, it is part of a prophecy I must die so Po gets to live"-

-"What? What kind of prophecy is that? We can't let that happen"- He said blurting out loudly, subtlety was not his forte.

-"If you intervene Po will be the one that dies, you wouldn't risk the life of your son would you?"- She whispered frustrated in an effort for him to lower his voice

-"Of course not! But I know what it's like to lose your mate, I can't let my son go through the same."-

-"We are not mates, and he might be sad about it but as I said he will bounce back, he always does. I am sorry for your loss sir, but in spite of everything you have moved on and for Po it would be the same"-

-"Of course he would, but he would still hurt in way that can never heal. I will never heal from the pain of losing the one I love, no matter how happy I can be and how much I can accomplish her memory will always hurt me. There has to be a way"- He pleaded her with shiny green eyes, the intensity in them told her this issue was reopening old wounds in his soul

-"Not one where your son survives. I'm telling you all this because I need you to take care of him, he is very powerful but might need help to stay grounded. A dangerous enemy is coming and when that happens he will need you, all of you."-

When mister Ping and Po came back with the dessert Li Shan had already left the table, he had gone for a walk into the forest, only Tigress could see the despair in his eyes as he left.

She pushed the memories away, the unresolved emotions Po had around her would be yet another problem for the living to resolve, she couldn't do more than she already did there was not enough time.

Now they are near their destination and she can see the open field. It was just like her vision, a petulant horse was terrorizing the citizens with an assorted group of animals at his side. Like many times before all masters charged at the group of bandits, a big boar with a battle axe came her way but this time instead of fighting the brute she ordered Po to take care of him while she faced off against the horse. For some reason the equine was already squaring off against Mantis and Viper.

-"Leave this one to me, you go take care of the other ones before they run away"- She commanded in a powerful roar, the last thing she needed was for either of them to fall victim of the deadly weapon.

The feline ran towards her enemy and with the momentum caused by her speed she threw a powerful open palm strike at the horse's chest that sent him at least seven feet away. Her foe curled on himself upon impact and she could see that was merely a ruse so she wouldn't guess that he was looking for the cannon on his sleeve.

This was it, this was her final moment.

But the horse didn't do anything this time, looking inside his sleeve he was shocked to realize that there was nothing in there.- "Where is it?"- He said panicking.

She asked herself the same question, both enemies saw each other in confusion for a while, it was almost comical.

Realizing how dumb it was to be just standing there while her opponent looked for his weapon she kicked him hard on the stomach and continued with the fight, as her enemy slouched once more from the pain they both heard Mantis hollering behind them.

-"Looking for this?"- The insect said holding the mini cannon triumphantly on his tiny pincers, the device was almost as big as him.

Exasperated she took the opportunity of his distraction and punched the horse hard on the face knocking him out

This was not going according to plan, something had gone wrong, she should be dead by now!

Frantically she looked around for the reaper but couldn't find him, could the deal be broken? Is Po still in danger? Looking at the panda she could see he had little trouble handling the boar, with a flying high kick the boar fell to the ground and his axe fell right beside him, the dragon warrior merely grabbed the weapon and threw it as far as possible, accidentally breaking the roof of a nearby hut. -"Sorry"- Po said flinching a little at the angry stare of the villagers who now had much more repairs to do.

Yeah Po was still a klutz but as far as she could tell he was out of danger.

-"It doesn't make sense."- She whispered while shaking her head -"Mantis what did you do?!- She told the insect while frustrated, he stole the weapon from the horse before he could use it.

-"Saved your tail apparently"- He said poking the mini cannon, by fiddling with it he inadvertently pulled the trigger, an explosion sounded and a nearby pole was hit by the pebble. Viper came close to it and was horrified when she noticed that it had left a big whole on the sturdy wood.

-"Master Shifu was right this thing is dangerous"- The snake said worried while inspecting the damage.

-"He told you about the weapon?"- Tigress said dumbfounded, so that's why those two intervened

-"Told you about what? That thingy?"- Po said scratching his head, he was the only one that looked as confused as her. The masters meanwhile didn't look too surprised at the strange device.

-"Shifu said he had a vision, he saw that you would be killed by this weapon so he gave us a strategy to neutralize it"- Crane said placing the weapon on a metal box so it wouldn't shoot itself again and cause more harm.

-"Hey why didn't he say anything to me?"- Po asked angry, he believed that if one of his friends was in danger of getting killed he had the right to know.

-"Because he was afraid you might screw it all up"- Monkey told him with a mixture of patience and a bit of condescending. The panda scoffed at first but then shrugged, he did had the habit of screwing up well calculated plans. Most of the times he could turn things around but if Tigress' life was on the line then he understood the need to make sure he didn't ruin anything.

Tigress felt her blood run cold, Shifu was the only one who knew about the reaper aside from Li Shan and she was certain the older panda would never intervene on this matter. The deal still had to be in place, the life of a noble warrior would still be taken for another, Shifu would never sacrifice Po (and the welfare of China) to save her, but why was she alive?

"_When I told you about the importance of self sacrifice it was about my life not yours"_ He had told her yesterday.

-"No… it can't be."- She whispered terrified. -"What did you do?!"- She told the other masters angry.

-"You okay Ti?"- Po said placing his paw on her shoulder gently

-"Yes and that's the problem! You shouldn't have stopped that horse I was supposed to die today"- She blurted out furious at them.

-"What?!"- All masters said shocked, most wondered if she had hit her head while fighting because she was acting crazy right now.

She was about to tell them of her deal with the reaper but was interrupted by a swarm of flying petals that came out of nowhere, they twirled around them in a small whirlpool and then fell to the floor revealing Master Shifu right above them. The red panda looked ethereal, almost transparent.

Tigress cried when she saw him, the masters behind her didn't understand what was going on. Po was the only one connected enough with the universe to see what was happening, he knew his master was moving to another plane and his spirit came here to say goodbye -"Master Shifu is dead, he's going to the spiritual world"- He explained to the others.

-"Why master why would you do this?"- Tigress yelled at her mentor, how dare he sacrifice himself like this? Doesn't he know that Po and the others need him? Can't he tell that she could face death but not the guilt of being the reason he died?

-"We all mourn our masters eventually but even when it hurts we learn to move on. Yet mourning our students is not the way nature works, that is not supposed to happen. At the face of death you gained a lot of wisdom, now that you have the choice to live I hope you don't lose it. Goodbye my students, you all have made me very proud"- And with a last smile the older master disappeared into the sky, the flower petals soon scattered into the wind.

Her legs gave out as she cried, not caring to keep the facade of strength and poise anymore. When Po's massive arms enveloped her she didn't even fight back. The other masters now understood what had happened and they joined the hug so they could all cry together.

Four days later Po was meditating under the peach tree when he felt Tigress approach him, she was silent as the wind but he could smell her perfume of incense and orchids.

-"How did the meeting with Taotie go?"- He asked her worried, their former enemy would be an invaluable ally in the upcoming battle.

-"Now that we gave him the original weapon he could do reverse engineering on it and knows how to make more of them, he's looking for ways to create an armor that would stop the projectile. It would be the only way to fend off an enemy who can manipulate it, no kung fu technique can stop a bullet going that fast."-

-"I wouldn't be so sure, there might be a way"- He told her as he took a peach from the tree and split it in half, he gave one part to her and ate the rest, then threw the seed in the air and made it levitate. With a flick of his wrist the seed flew almost as fast as a projectile from the gun straight at her face. She didn't even flinch as it came near her, she knew Po would never hurt her, well at least not on purpose. A golden shield made of pure chi appeared in front of her and the seed disintegrated as soon as it made contact with the defense mechanism

-"You can use your chi as a protection"- She said smiling

-"Not against something that fast, not yet. But with enough practice I might, and once I do I'll teach all of you how to do it"-

This is why the reaper wanted him to live, he was the one who could defeat the upcoming enemy. They knew now that the horse was merely a scout sent to test the weapon, a new enemy was coming their way with a large army with those cannons at hand and without Po's guidance her friends would be quikly overpowered.

Looking straight towards the night sky she wondered if it wouldn't be much more useful that a strategist like Shifu had remained alive, instead of a fighter like her who would be useless against this new weapon.

-"Don't do that"- The dragon warrior scolded her.

-"Do what?"-

-"Wish it was you that died instead of him"-

-"Are you reading my mind?"- The feline told him annoyed

-"No I can just feel your sadness"- Raising up from his meditation pose he told her tired -"I miss him too ,we all do. But you have to honor his sacrifice instead of blaming yourself for his death"-

-"Don't you think he would be better to help you face this instead of me?"- She asked determined. There were no tears in her eyes, those had dried out shortly after the funeral, the sorrow remained intact nonetheless

-"Shifu was a great guidance and so was Oogway. It sucked to lose them but losing who you love is part of life, just because we should remember them it doesn't change the fact that we have to move on"-

Sighing she nodded and turned around to leave

-"And in case you're wondering I need you more than I need him"-

-"What do you mean?"- She said coming back to his side

-"Losing my teacher is awful, but losing my… buddy, I don't think I could handle it"- He said shyly while staring at his feet.

She placed her fingers below his chin and forced him to face her so she could see his eyes, for a second it was like watching Li Shan remembering his lost wife. He knows, he knows he loves her but hasn't mastered the courage to tell her yet. Li shan had been right about him, had she died Po would have been left with the only wound he could never heal. Maybe Shifu saw it as well, maybe he convinced the reaper to take him instead of her because a being this pure hearted and powerful shouldn't be left with such deep scars. A lost teacher he could bounce back from, a lost love maybe not.

She had been right, the ones left burdened with the struggles are the living, it is up to her to take care of the dragon warrior and help him guide the growing powers within his immense chi. As for his feelings she has no idea on how to solve that situation but at least now she has the time to figure it out.

-"We'll be fine"- She told him in a rare bout of optimism, it must have been the right thing to say because she saw him relax while a peaceful smile lit up his face.

His fluffy soft hand slowly crept towards hers and she let him do it, their fingers intertwined as they looked at the starry sky, the peach tree was still in full bloom.

THE END.


End file.
